Restore representative government

This editorial was published in the Jefferson City News-Tribune on Jan. 2.

The perversion of the initiative process flourishes as we enter the new year.

The trend is dangerous because it indicates mistrust in the legislative process and undermines representative government.

According to an Associated Press story in Tuesday’s News Tribune: “More than 170 ballot proposals were submitted to state officials by mid-December and the number could grow before a May 8 deadline for signature-gathering on petitions.”

The initiative process has been part of Missouri’s Constitution since 1875, and was designed to empower anyone, including lawmakers, to bypass the Legislature and to take measures directly to the voters.

Once considered a last resort if and when legislators failed to act, initiative efforts have escalated. They have been launched by residents, interest groups and legislators, and take the form of both statutory and constitutional changes.

The growth trend has been characterized as ridiculous by Ken Warren, a political science professor at St. Louis University, who added that it is “defeating the whole purpose of a representative democracy.”

Frustration with representative democracy accounts for much of the appeal and proliferation of initiative petitions.

“Let the people decide” may be a popular rallying cry, but it is not entirely practical. Some major issues deserve to be decided by a statewide vote, but do voters really want to decide 100-plus issues at each election? Do voters have the time, energy and inclination to decide, for example, the comprehensive rewrite of the criminal code approved by lawmakers?

We concede party politics have become more polarizing, and some of that divisiveness has permeated the legislative process and diminished compromise. We also understand legislative control by one party — right now, Missouri Republicans — may steer minority party lawmakers to the initiative process.

The legislative process may be imperfect, but it is a crucible designed to reject bad ideas and advance worthwhile ones.

Similarly, the initiative process is hardly perfect. Proponents of an issue may attract large contributions designed to exaggerate outcomes and sway public opinion.

In the final analysis, the growth in initiatives gradually is dismantling representative government.

The remedy is to elect representatives who outline achievable goals and realistic strategies, not candidates who bamboozle voters with popular, but impossible, promises.